


playing favorites

by alsodeaddianemoss



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Family Drama, First Bartlet Campaign, essentially me ranting about my own problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23522026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alsodeaddianemoss/pseuds/alsodeaddianemoss
Summary: "if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." -langston hughesdonna, family drama and dreams.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	playing favorites

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! first of all, thank you so much for the kudos/nice comments on stargazing! you guys are all amazing :) this fic is basically me using these characters to get real family drama off my chest (i know, probably not the best way to deal with it), but i hope it turned out sweet in the end. not exactly sure about the exact canon of donna's family, but i always picture her having a younger sister like i do. anyways, hope you enjoy!

Donna slammed down the phone and inhaled shakily.  _ What the hell am I supposed to do now?  _

From the second her younger sister was born, she stopped being the favorite. School subjects Donna had struggled with Isabella had passed with flying colors; she was the star of every sport she played. While Donna always worked hard and played by the rules, spent hours meticulously making flashcards and writing essays so she could do  _ something  _ with her life, Bella would lay around, working on some random art project or renovating her room. 

And yet her parents saw Donna as stubborn and difficult, where Bella was always talented and dedicated.  _ Which is ridiculous, because Bella stops anything she isn’t the best at.  _ It even got to the point that when they would fight, Bella would pull the favorites card. This sent Donna screaming to her mother, who would only reply with ‘don’t say that’. 

Not even a ‘we love our children equally.’ 

Of course, the cherry on top of this whole mess was her father, who had felt he needed to ‘mourn’ when she wanted to go to UW-Madison and would loudly whisper to her mother that she was always pretending to act stupid, called to let her know that her time on the campaign was up. 

The longer she stood there, frozen, more tears started to form. She blindly started to make her way towards the door, eyes firmly planted to the ground, when she heard a bellow. 

“Donna!” she whipped around to find an adorably confused Josh, with folders in both hands. Upon seeing her face, he strode straight towards her. “Donna, are you okay?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” she replied, but her voice was hollow, and the tears started to fall. 

“Okay, come with me for a second.” Josh said tentatively, and the two walked out of the building, his firm hand on her back guiding her towards the door. Once they were outside, Josh turned to face her. 

“What’s going on?”

“My dad just called me.”

“Everyone okay?” he replied quickly, a panicked tone creeping into his voice. 

“Yeah, he’s fine. Everyone’s fine, except me, I guess. He just called to tell me about dreams. You know, I didn’t realize it, but I guess I dream too much, because that was him letting me know it was time for my dreaming to stop.” she snapped, and then burst into tears. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“Well, I’m over here desperately hanging on to an assistant job where I have no knowledge or prior experience, and meanwhile, my younger sister, the favorite child, is getting her PhD. So as usual, I’m the family disgrace. And even though my dad wanted to be an astronaut, he knew that dream was never going to happen. He told me I should know that this is never going to happen. He wants me to come home.” she cried, and put her head in her hands. Josh sat down next to her, rubbing her back while the two shared a rare silent moment. 

“Well first of all, his logic is ridiculous.” Josh broke the silence. “Isn’t the whole point of a dream to keep chasing it until it becomes real?” she looked up at him and mustered a watery smile. “Also, you are really good at this. I know I’m kind of the worst sometimes, but I don’t know how I’d function without you here.” 

“You wouldn’t.” Donna mumbled. 

“Look, Donna, I really want you here, but you only have one family, okay? If--” 

“Josh, I’m staying. They didn’t call me stubborn for nothing.” she noticed the corners of his mouth quirk up. 

“Good.” 

“But you have to promise that the Secret Service will show up if he tries to take me back to Wisconsin.” 

“Deal.”

“Come on, we should be getting back. I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this.” Donna said matter-of-factly and stood up, extending a hand to Josh. 

“Don’t be sorry.” 

“Really, it’s all Moss family drama. They always say I’m overexaggerating anyways--” 

“Donna.” Josh interjected. 

“Yes?” 

“You’re my favorite, okay?” he squeezed her hand, and she smiled as they walked back towards the building. 

Although the thought of her angry father storming into the office did occasionally cross her mind, she wasn’t worried. She still had her dream, and she had Josh there with her. 

And for now, that was enough. 


End file.
